I dig up and view videos of Marines I interviewed about their tattoos during my time embedded in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
I watch Cpl. Anthony Palaia explain why he has the blank face of the Grim Reaper tattooed over his ribcage.
“It’s just to remind me that death comes in all forms,” he said. “You can’t see it or know when it’s going to happen.”
One Marine has the image of a woman with flowing hair, gripping a skull close to her chest, inked on his bicep.
“Me and my wife were talking one night and we were just asking each other stupid questions,” Cpl Erik Johnson said.
He asked her, “If I ever died, would you let you go?” She answered, “No.”
A week later, Johnson was medevacked from a grade III concussion he
suffered during an IED blast. Soon, he returned to duty with three more
months of the deployment to complete.
In another clip, a Marine shows his “meat tags,” which is Marine
jargon for tattoos of dog tags, which identify the dead and wounded by
using their names, Social Security numbers, blood type and religion for
last rites.
“It’s used to identify your body when nothing else is left,” said
Hospital Corpsman Jason Houches, pulling up his shirt to reveal his dog
tags inked on his side.
Another Marine describes the two Chinese characters on his chest
symbolizing life and death. He has a wide smile, which accents his high
check bones and dimples.
“That’s my feeling, you should have a choice to live or to die,” Cpl Philip Charte said.
Suddenly the smile was gone.
He turned around and pointed to a small bird tattooed on his shoulder blade.
“The tattoo on my back, of the dove, is to mean that my mom made peace with God when she passed away in 2005,” he said.
He looked at the camera; his brown eyes were sad and strong.
I turned the camera off and packed my things. In a few minutes an
armored vehicle would arrive and take me back to the main base.
Just a week later on Sept. 7, 2010, Charte was killed in action.
I wish I asked Charte what he meant by that choosing life or death.
Did he mean that he was choosing one by joining the Marine Corps?
But there will be no more questions, just this little piece of his life caught on film.
Now he is gone.
Perhaps that is why these men and women keep etching their memories
into their flesh, to commemorate the good and the bad, to not forget
what they have gained - and what they have lost.
Cali Bagby embedded
with the Marines in Helmand province, Afghanistan, north of the
Pakistani border, as a multimedia journalist for KVAL News in 2010. She
and Dan Morrison won an Oregon Associated Press Broadcast Award for
their reporting. Bagby is a freelance multimedia journalist who spent 10 months embedded with the Oregon National Guard in Iraq for KVAL.com. She is a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in Eugene, Ore.
By
Tom Adams KVAL Newsclass="fin_publish_dates_published">
Nov 19, 2012 at 9:46 PM
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - If three words define David Carpenter these days, it's "no whining allowed."
"I'm just so thankful to be alive that you know, there's really nothing to complain about," says Carpenter.
He nearly died August 20 in double IED explosions on patrol in Afghanistan.
Now Springfield native David Carpenter says he's ahead of the curve on his road to recovery.
KVAL News first talked to Carpenter the week of 9-11, just after his right foot and ankle were amputated.
This Thanksgiving week, he says he's thankful for family, his medical team and so much more.
Carpenter says he's totally focused on therapy in the pool and lots of
gym work "for an hour and a half to 2 hours. Then I do core, which is
all abs and low back and things like that."
Half a world away, longtime family friend Katie Arnold is not surprised that Carpenter's recovery so far is textbook.
"David just soldiers on," Arnold says. "That's kind of a trite way to say it, but it's what he does."
So as Thanksgiving week approaches, what is on Carpenter's mind?
"You know I've actually been thinking about that this week. First and
foremost, I'm always thankful for my family, my amazing wife, my 3
beautiful kids. I also met some amazing people that, you know, are hurt
way worse than me."
Arnold, herself an army vet, knows challenges will be ahead for David,
even PTSD. "I don't think he expected things to turn out the way they
did but they did, so he moves forward," she says.
Carpenter credits the medical team at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio,
Texas, for his rapid progress. He fully expects to be home in Lane
County for Christmas, and says his permanent prosthetic leg will be
ready in about 6 months.
Please pray for the families and loved ones of these four heroes. And also for all the injured.
The four veterans killed when a freight train barreled into the
parade float they were riding on were decorated military men who served
on the front lines multiple times in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They
survived gunshots, explosions and grenade attacks that left some with
brain injuries that slurred their speech and made it difficult to walk.
One
had a wife back home battling cancer while he fought through a brain
injury in Iraq after an improved explosive device hit his truck.
Another was starting a new career with a defense contractor after more than two decades of military service.
Photos
of the four veterans who died when the parade float they were on was
hit by a train Nov. 15, 2012, in Midland, Texas. From left: Sgt. Maj.
Gary Stouffer, 37; Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, 47; Army Sgt. Joshua
Michael, 34, and Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, 43. Courtesy Show Of
Support/AP
They
were husbands and fathers. Soldiers and a Marine. And they made
sacrifices for those they loved, including at least one who died after
pushing his wife to safety.
The men had traveled to Midland,
Texas, from all over the country for a hunting trip organized to honor
their service and to spend a weekend with those who would understand
them best - their fellow veterans.
Here's a look at them, compiled
from interviews with friends and family, along with autobiographies
they wrote for the website of Show of Support, the group that organized
the parade and hunting trip.
Army Sgt. Joshua Michael, 34, was coming off a shift as a paramedic in Amarillo, Texas, when he heard about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I
knew what I had to do," he wrote for Show of Support's website. "I come
from a long line of military and public servants; this was my calling."
Michael
also knew what to do Thursday. As the train hurtled down the tracks, he
pushed his wife, Daylyn, off the float so she wasn't injured, said a
close friend, Cory Rogers.
Michaels described his wife as "amazing to say the least." They had been through much together.
He
was on his second tour of duty in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division
in December 2005, when Daylyn gave him bad news: their infant
daughter's tear ducts hadn't developed normally, and she needed surgery.
In January, there was worse news: Daylyn had thyroid cancer.
"During
her radiation, I was injured for the first time," Michael wrote. He
suffered a traumatic brain injury when an IED hit his truck, but he
wasn't allowed to go home.
"We were too short manned," he wrote, "and I had to just recover in theater under the supervision of a neurologist."
Another
IED hit Michael's truck in April, breaking his ribs and rupturing his
spleen. In September 2006, he was wounded a third time - another
traumatic brain injury that sent him back to the U.S. for care at Fort
Sam Houston and forced his retirement from the military.
Michael
and his wife, who lived in the San Antonio area, dealt with their
illnesses "like they were in the room together," said Rogers, their
friend. "You never would have known he was deployed overseas."
Daylyn
recovered from cancer, and the couple celebrated their 15th anniversary
this year. Along with their daughter, Maci, now 7, they had a son,
Ryan, 14.
"We have struggled together, laughed together, cried together, but most importantly stayed together," Michael wrote.
---
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gary Stouffer,
37, joined the Marines in college and served in Albania, Kosovo and
twice in Iraq. He was injured during a tour in Afghanistan when an IED
hit his vehicle during a resupply mission.
Stouffer was thrown
inside the vehicle but didn't realize the extent of injuries until he
returned to the U.S. After nine months of tests, he was diagnosed with a
traumatic brain injury, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress
disorder and compression fractures in his neck and lower back.
Two
years after the explosion, he was still undergoing speech and physical
therapy, while waiting to find out if he had to take a medical
retirement or could stay in the Marines on limited duty.
His dream
was to serve for 30 years, he wrote for Show of Support. But, "after 17
awesome years, right now I will be happy to just see my way to
officially retiring at 20 years."
Stouffer, who lived in Newport,
Pa., also was waiting for approval for a Purple Heart. He had been
married to his wife, Catherine, for 16 years and had two children,
Shannon, 16, and Shane, 12.
He particularly had been looking forward to the hunting trip.
"I
have always enjoyed the outdoors and how it makes me feel," he wrote,
adding that, "It has always been a dream of mine to hunt in Texas."
---
Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, 47, had started a new career with a defense contractor in North Carolina after his retirement from the Army.
He had served for 24 years, including a decade with special operations forces and tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He
was wounded in April 2004 while helping train Marines in Iraq. Attacked
from several directions at once, half of the Marines were wounded
within the first few minutes. Boivin was hit by shrapnel but continued
to fight until he was wounded again by a grenade. Still, he managed to
provide cover so the Marines could evacuate their wounded. His valor
earned him a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.
His mother, Lucette
Boivin, of Fayetteville, N.C., said she had worried about him when he
was overseas but not when he headed to Texas for a pleasure trip. He
planned to be in the parade, go hunting and visit one of his
stepdaughters before returning to North Carolina on Monday, she said.
Instead, his younger brother, Danny, a sergeant major at Fort Bragg, was sent to Texas to pick up his body, Lucette Boivin said.
The
Boivins moved to the U.S. from Canada 49 years ago. Larry Boivin had
wanted to be a solider since he was a little boy, his mother said.
Along with the more recent wars, he served in the first Iraq war, earning a Bronze Star.
Boivin's
wife, Angela, an intensive care nurse, was with him in Texas. She
suffered a back injury in the crash and was heavily medicated because of
shock, said his niece, Felicia Wickes.
---
Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, 43, spent 21 of his 24 years in the military with the U.S. Army Special Forces.
He
was wounded in a 2005 ambush in Afghanistan, while on his second tour
of duty there. Shot in the arm, he was sent back to the U.S. to recover.
He
spent a month in the hospital and another 15 months in recovery at Fort
Bragg, N.C., according to his autobiography for Show of Support. He had
13 surgeries.
When he was better, he went back to Afghanistan for two more tours.
Lubbers
also spent a year on duty in Pakistan, according to his Show of Support
autobiography. He earned a Purple Heart, three Bronze Stars and
numerous other awards.
Lubbers and his wife, Tiffanie, had been
married for 19 years. She also was on the float and was in serious
condition Friday at University Medical Center in Lubbock, the Midland
Reporter-Telegram reported.
The couple, who lived in Fayetteville, N.C., had two children, Zachary, 18, and Sydnie, 11.
---
Associated Press writers Angela K. Brown in Fort Worth, Texas, and Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
The inspiring story of injured veteran Taylor Morris is a sure-fire way
to put whatever problems you might have into perspective.
This is the inspirational story of Taylor Morris. A remarkable young
man, Taylor was injured on May 3rd, 2012 in Afghanistan in an IED blast.
Close to death the doctors were certain he would die. The only options
available to possibly save his life would be to amputate all his limbs.
And there had only been four other servicemen in the World who had ever
survived that drastic treatment. Taylor makes number five. But he wants
to become number one. He considers himself unstoppable.
Taylor Morris, the 5th surviving quad amputee, and his girlfriend
Danielle Kelly got to try on Taylor's dancing shoes at their good
friends Mike and Hanna Thuesen's wedding, Saturday, September 1st, 2012.
That weekend marked Taylor's 5th month anniversary after his accident.
His recovery is nothing short of incredible.
Taylor Morris and Danielle Kelly's love story is a captivating one:
Morris was hit by an explosive device while serving in Afghanistan and
became one of the few surviving quadruple amputees, but that didn't stop
him from dancing at a recent wedding with the girlfriend who has stayed by his side throughout his recovery, 9 News MSN reports.
Morris, 23, is an Navy EOD tech -- or Explosive Ordinance Disposal
tech -- from Iowa who was injured in action last May after stepping on
an IED. He lost both of his legs, his left arm from the bicep down, and
his right hand.
“I don’t think a second of that day will ever fade from my memory," Kelly told the Cedar Falls Patch back in July. "I try not to think back on that day, because it brings back all the raw feelings. Instead, we are looking forward.”
Taylor’s grandfather, Sid, wraps his big, loving arms around Taylor. Of
the 160,000 pictures I have taken in my professional career thus far, I
don’t think there’s a single picture that captures more emotion than
this. Taylor’s dad, Dan, told me later that he can count on one hand
how many times he’s seen his father cry. I know it was one of the
happiest moments in Sid’s life–To be blessed enough to stand
face-to-face and hug his grandson again against all odds.
Morris is still recovering at Walter Reed but, he and Kelly are
moving forward. They returned to Iowa in August to attend the wedding of
their close friends, where they danced to "Old Time Rock And Roll." (See video above.)
The weekend marked the five-month anniversary of Morris's accident,
and it was the first time he had set foot back in his hometown. Photographer Tim Dodd, Morris' childhood friend, captured the parade honoring his recent visit on his blog.
Morris and Kelly were first put into the spotlight in May when the Chive posted a story about the couple with a series of moving photos that Dodd had taken. (Those photos recently went viral on Buzzfeed. )
At the time, the Chive asked for donations to help the couple build
their dream home: a wood cabin on a lake. Within 45 minutes, close to
$28,000 had been raised. That number later rose to $250,000.
Morris' family hassince started their own blogto
share his story and document his recovery. His most recent
accomplishments include being able to crack eggs to whip up French
Toast. He also recently met Bruce Springsteen.
Two rival teams faced off at a Michigan homecoming football
game, but this year fans from both sides will be sporting the same
T-shirts with the motto, "Two Teams, One Hero."
The "hero" to whom they refer is Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, who's returning to his hometown for the first time
since an IED explosion caused him to lose both his arms and legs.
Mills, 25, is one of five surviving quadruple amputee servicemen from
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He has been at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for
the past six months and was waiting until he was ready to visit his
small hometown of Vassar, Mich. Everyone had known him in the town as a
popular football, basketball and baseball player.
"I decided that I would wait until I was ready to walk and show people
the progress I'm making, not that they would ever doubt me or make fun
of me," Mills told ABCNews.com. "It was a personal thing."
He has been stunned by his welcome home. Mills and wife Kelsey Mills,
23, and their 1-year-old daughter, Chloe, were grand marshals Thursday
night at a homecoming parade. He will address the crowds tonight at
Vassar High School, his alma mater, before the homecoming game.
Mills said his community has welcomed him, "Just arms wide open, big
hugs, everybody's cheering, thanking me for my service. It's just
wonderful."
Continue reading at bottom of page
Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills plays with his
daughter Chloe in his boyhood home in Vassar, Michigan,on October 4,
2012. Mills is visiting his hometown for the first time since losing all
four limbs while fighting in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Quadruple amputee Staff Sgt. Travis Mills comes home
Mills' life changed in April while he was serving his third tour in
Afghanistan. He went out on foot patrol at around 4:30 p.m. A
mine-sweeper surveyed the area, but did not pick up on an IED made of
plastic and copper wire that was in the exact spot where Mills set down
an ammunition bag.
"As soon as I set it down, five or six seconds later, I woke up on the
ground and I looked at my hand and said, 'This isn't good,'" he recalls.
A medic rushed over to him and Mills told him, "Get away from me, doc. You go save my men. Let me go. Save my men."
Mills laughingly recalled the medic saying, "With all due respect, shut up."
The next few weeks were fuzzily spent being transferred from hospital to
hospital and town to town under a medically induced coma.
When Mills woke up, he was with his brother-in-law, a fellow soldier who
had stayed with him. Mills' first question was about his soldiers and
whether they were OK. They were. His next question was whether he was
paralyzed. He was not, his brother-in-law said.
Mills told his brother-in-law that he couldn't feel his fingers and toes and not to lie to him.
"Travis, you don't have them anymore but you're alive," Mills recalls his saying. "I said OK."
His limbs could not be saved and Mills lost most of both arms and both legs.
"You have a lot of emotions. At first you're upset. Why did it happen?
What did I do wrong? Am I a bad person?" he said. "Then you realize it
just happened because it happens. There's no reason to dwell on the past
or live in the past. I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful, young
1-year-old daughter and I'm never going to give up on them or my family
or the people who support me."
courtesyTravis Mills.org
At Walter Reed, Mills' doctor told him that he would probably spend two
years recovering in the hospital. Mills told him he could do it in a
year.
For the past six months, he has spent every day doing occupational
therapy and physical therapy. He works on his therapies from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. every day. He has received support from his medical team,
family friends and the few other surviving quadruple amputees. And he
has already begun to pay that support forward.
"He has got such an unbelievable attitude," Mills' father-in-law, Craig
Buck, said. "He takes time out of his week each week to go up to the
fourth floor of Walter Reed. That's where the most critically wounded
guys that are coming back home are, and he'll put on all of his
prosthetics and go visit them to encourage them."
Buck, 49, has spent the past six weeks at Walter Reed with Mills and his family and has been amazed by his resilience.
"Just his spirit, he lifts everyone up around him even though he's had
such devastating injuries," Buck said. "Of course there's down times,
which is to be expected, where he's not feeling so chipper, but 90
percent of the time he's positive, motivated and just works so hard at
getting better."
Mills has prosthetics for both legs and both arms. He uses a wheelchair
sometimes, but is already walking on his prosthetics. He hopes to be
completely out of the wheelchair by November, using it only
occasionally.
"It would be ways if I wanted to get down, but it wouldn't make my
marriage very good and it wouldn't make my daughter very happy," Mills
said. "She's one of the happiest kids I've ever seen and my marriage has
never been stronger."
Mills calls his wife "a real hero" for helping him and staying by his
side. He says his wedding band is his most prized possession. His
brother-in-law pulled it off of his mangled finger after the explosion
and Mills marvels that it does not even have a scratch on it. He wears
it around his neck.
He is confident that his military career is far from over. His goal of
being in the military for 20 years is unchanged after his accident. He
hopes to be an instructor.
"I still have plans to stay in the military, if they'll have me," he
said. "If I can give anything to the war effort, to the soldiers, to the
guys that are signing up, I'm definitely willing to do it and I would
love to."
He'll get a chance to address his thousands of fans and thank them
tonight for their support. His only concern is he hopes he'll be able to
get to everyone.
"I've never stopped wanting to help and I'll never stop training,
teaching and pushing guys through what they need to push through," he
said. "I'll give inspiration and motivation to anyone because that's my
purpose. I don't take life for granted and I'm thankful I get to see my
kid grow up and teach her to ride a bike."
With thousands of charities and new ones popping up every day, choosing which one can be a daunting task. Research,Research, Research is the key.
When you donate to charity, giving generously to organizations you believe will use those funds to aid service members, veterans and their families, it can be shocking to learn what a small amount of the money you donate to charity is actually used for the causes they support. For this reason, you want to make sure you research any charitable organization before giving.
So what should I do? Who should I give to? What cause is the best?
The first thing to determine is "where is my heart being pulled towards helping". Is it helping those with PTSD, TBI, homelessness, wounded, or something else?
We're bringing you this information to help you ensure that your hard-earned dollars are actually going to the veterans charity causes you want to support before you donate charity.
The use of tax-exempt organizations to solicit donations is an area that unfortunately has been inundated with fraud in recent years, particularly the establishment of new "charities" since the 9/11 tragedy. Many unscrupulous individuals are "cashing in" on America's generosity to help those in need in order to line their own pockets.
In order to qualify as a tax-exempt charitable organization under IRS Code Section 501(c), an organization need contribute a mere 5% of the fair market value of its assets to its designated charitable cause. Obviously, if its assets consist of cash solicited from donors, that means it would have to donate only 5% of the cash it collected in order to maintain its tax-exempt status.
Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors
1) Be Proactive In Your Giving
Take time to identify which causes are most important to you and your family.
2) Hang Up The Phone / Eliminate The Middleman
Hang up, investigate the charity on-line and send contributions directly to the charity, thereby cutting out the middleman and ensuring 100 percent of your donation reaches the charity.
3) Be Careful Of Impostors and Sound-Alike Names
Donors are easily confused by charities that have deceptively similar names to others. Uncover the difference.
4) Confirm 501(c) (3) Status
Only support groups granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS Code – and remember to take the tax deduction.
5) Check The Charity's Commitment To Donor's Rights
Check if the charity has a donor privacy policy whereby the organization promises to never sell or trade donor contact information.
6) Obtain Copies Of Its Financial Records
Financial health is a strong indicator of the charity's performance. The most efficient charities spend at least 75 percent of their budget on programs and services and less than 25 percent on fundraising and administrative fees. Seek out charities that are able to grow their revenue, that continue to invest in their programs and that have some money saved for a rainy day.
7) Review Executive Compensation
Charities need to pay their top leaders a competitive salary in order to attract and retain the kind of talent needed to run a multi-million dollar organization and produce results. However, it's smart to benchmark it against similar-sized organizations engaged in similar work and located in the same region of the country.
8) Start A Dialogue To Investigate Its Programmatic Results
It takes some effort to assess a charity's programmatic impact, but it's worth the time. Talk with the charity to learn about its accomplishments, goals and challenges. Walk away from a charity that is unable or unwilling to participate in this conversation.
9) Concentrate Your Giving
If you've really taken the time to identify a well-run charity that is engaged in a cause that you are passionate about, you should then feel confident in giving it a donation.
10) Share Your Intentions And Make A Long-Term Commitment
Only with long-term, committed supporters can a charity be successful.
Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, said the agency has 20 standards for reviewing charities, including that a charity's' fund raising and overhead costs not exceed 35 percent of total contributions.
Here is a link to Military charities listed with the BBB Better Business Bureau
The American Institute of Philanthropy, a leading charity watchdog, issued a report card veterans and military charities. Letter grades were based largely on the charities’ fund raising costs and the percentage of money raised that was spent on charitable activities.
.jpg)
Cali Bagby embedded
with the Marines in Helmand province, Afghanistan, north of the
Pakistani border, as a multimedia journalist for KVAL News in 2010. She
and Dan Morrison won an Oregon Associated Press Broadcast Award for
their reporting.
